@JBStillFlying #237 While BLM is obviously important to him, it isn’t to everyone (as a movement).
“It would be really nice if someone wrote"Make America Great Again” 100 times and they weren’t a pathological liar and really meant it . To many of us BLM is synonymous with Make America Great Again.
@JBStillFlying did your child get rejected from Stanford? I am having trouble understanding your attitude towards Ziad"
@collegedad13 - just curious. Do you actually know ANYONE who might like “Make America Great Again”? Be honest now! And for the record our daughter didn’t look at any CA schools. We encouraged her to at least consider USC due to the National Merit scholarship potential but she opted to focus elsewhere. However, once upon a time my older brother got into Stanford (opted for Cal).
@Marvernvarna at #240. Ah - thanks for clarifying. Totally agree with your first statement. There would be lots of things mentioned on that essay, I would think, that aren’t important to a lot of people. For instance, what if living the Dominican charism was important to you? No way would a majority even understand what that is, let alone why it’s important. But if your answer includes an explanation, then it might be good enough for admission. (As an aside, a Dominican would probably not be so braggy about being accepted, but that’s a different issue).
Here is another student writing a compelling article on Ziad’s essay. This one is from Duke
http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2017/04/ziad-ahmed-and-the-college-essay
He raises some interesting questions.
What’s interesting is that these thoughts are seeping out not from rejected kids (who could arguably have an ax to grind) but from other students admitted to selective universities. He might find himself labeled as “the kid who shouldn’t have gotten in” wherever he ends up.
^^^really? You don’t know kids who would be on their high horse having landed themselves in an elite school all the while happy to shut the gates on others? I could certainly see why a student who got into an elite school would have a investment in chiding someone they perceived as “not following the rules”…or not worthy. That doesn’t mean the focus of their hostility is just. Sour grapes is sour grapes. They have a right to be critical but don’t assign any lofty principals to their goals.
Well, this is progress @tonymom, calling it just “sour grapes”. I take it that it was the comments from African American admitted students and other elite admitted students that led you to back away from your earlier charges of racism and jealousy?
@tonymom didn’t even use “sour grapes” correctly. Needs to brush up on his/her Aesop and come up with another reason why the world is so unfairly stacked against young Ziad.
The “axe to grind here” was in reference to posts on cc. Did you not follow that?
And let me get this straight in case I missed something. Posters here don’t appreciate folks drawing conclusions or making assumptions about who they are based on their race or where they live but it’s perfectly fine to do a page long investigation with facts adnauseum about this kid’s family, and father in particular, and draw conclusions about him? Ok, got it.
Sour grapes ? Several of the opinion pieces that I referenced in my posts were from Stanford students or Stanford scholars. In fact the most critical one was the WSJ article, which was written by a current Stanford student. The others were written by respected journalists who have long graduated from college, you think they would be holding grudges from 20 to 30 years ago ?
@tonymom - the difference between the two camps on this thread is that those posters who are viewing Ziad’s admission with a critical eye are also bringing in facts and statements from the outside to bolster their positions. Where are your facts? All we’ve been reading from your side are assertions and accusations. Obviously you are free to express those, but they make for very poor reasoning, in case that hasn’t already been made clear.
@JBStillFlying
So you haven’t answered my question as to why folks here don’t want to be judged by the circumstances of their birth, location etc but it’s ok to judge this kid by his socio-economic status. My point is much is being made that this applicant is somehow being dishonest but how do you really “know” what were the circumstances of his entire application and what his life is like? You don’t.
we obviously disagree and that’s fine.
“So you haven’t answered my question as to why folks here don’t want to be judged by the circumstances of their birth, location etc but it’s ok to judge this kid by his socio-economic status.”
Sure - be happy to answer that question: this young man has very publicly made his SES apparent, so it’s part of the overall discussion of his very public announcement of how he got into Stanford. I, for one, wouldn’t mind at all if someone judged me by my birth, location, etc. They just have to get the facts correct. Which, so far, they haven’t - in fact, they have made a bunch of dumb assumptions which were inaccurate at best. In short: there has been very little stereotyping of Ziad. There has been a whole LOT of stereotyping of Ziad’s critics.
I agree with @tonymom there is a lot of sour grapes and petty jealousy going on. It is very sad indeed. @JBStillFlying since you volunteered
What are the correct facts??
@collegedad13 - since you seem to be fascinated with me- I invite you to reread my earlier response to your inaccuracies. You are welcome to take those and spin your explanations.
@JBStillFlying I am not fascinated with you at all. Sorry. I just try to get the facts out “Democracy dies in darkness”
@collegedad13 - oh good. Then we can all return our attention to the main point of the thread.
Turns out he’s matriculating at Yale (heard from a friend of his, I’d say pretty reliable).
.
He didn’t get in stanford just for that essay. Check his twitter, he has a ton of extracurriculars and even worked alongside Hillary Clinton and has a verified twitter. The hashtags just added to his twitter profile and his determination with the BLM movement and other non-profit organizations.